OBSERVER: Legends of the Skies


LOTS Theatre hit the road on tour to the Ballarat Heritage Festival to present a reprise of the 12th series of Legends of the Skies, celebrating the 90th anniversary of the MacRobertson Trophy Air Race.
Two shows were presented in Ballarat Airport’s historic mess hall to capacity audiences, and acknowledgement for the success of this project must go to Artistic Director Maggie Morrison.
With minimal funds, LOTS Theatre hired a rental truck and Maggie and her wonderful team of volunteers loaded up the stage, lights, props and costumes and headed to Ballarat to transform the Mess Hall into a theatre in just one day.
Audiences enjoyed hearing of this true story which used a little dramatic licence to tell of the dream of the 1934 Lord Mayor of Melbourne and the financial support he received from the Ballarat born philanthropist, MacPherson Robertson.
Informative and entertaining scripts were written by Alison Knight with added scenes and songs by Jim Williams and Maggie Morrison.
The multi-generational cast of fifteen performers and seven crew included young actors Banjo Morrison, twin brothers Christian and Sebastian Jones, and brothers George and Mack Klesman, with Sam Withington on lights.
Bravo to LOTS Theatre and Maggie Morrison for triumphing over challenges and bringing aviation history alive through performance in Ballarat.
Incidentally, the winner of the MacRobertson Trophy Air Race was the DeHavilland DH88 Comet, ‘Grosvenor House’, flown by Charles W.A. Scott and Tom Campbell-Black.
Cheryl Threadgold